Foster has been in that spot before, and he hasn’t hesitated to let Johnson know what he thinks about having to prepare for Johnson’s option offense. Having just four practice days to get ready for a Thursday night road game miffs Foster, but having to do it while getting ready for Johnson’s unique offense is even more troublesome.

“I let him know how much of a pain in the tail he is for all of us to prepare for,” said Foster on Tuesday evening. “I think he likes that, but he’s good at what he does, and they’re good at what they do.”

After last Saturday’s 29-21 triple-overtime win against fast-paced Marshall, Foster readily admits everything Virginia Tech worked on defensively for the Thundering Herd is useless against the Yellow Jackets, who won at home last Saturday against North Carolina. He doesn’t think the short turnaround for a Thursday night game should exist in college football.

“I think it’s totally absurd, ludicrous…whoever scheduled this game, whether it’s TV, it’s totally – it’s not right,” Foster said. “If they’re looking for safety of the kids, this is not right, especially in a game with this kind of opponent or you’re playing off of a short week. It’s just not right.

“I’m not saying we should always have seven or eight days to prepare for Georgia Tech. I don’t care who it is. It’s not fair for Georgia Tech to turn around and play us. I don’t think it’s right, especially if we’re playing on the road, which is crazy. I’m letting off some steam.”

While he was in that mode, Foster actually opened his post-practice conversation with media by sounding off on ESPN ACC blogger Heather Dinich’s coverage of his defense.

Virginia Tech surrendered 361 yards to Marshall, including 156 yards in the second half and overtimes. Marshall also didn’t score after halftime. Based on those numbers, and his own favorable impressions of Marshall quarterback Rakeem Cato, Foster wasn’t pleased with a voicemail he got from Dinich.

“She calls and leaves me a message, ‘I’m looking at the stat sheet, and what happened? It doesn’t look like the same team that showed up with Alabama,’” said Foster, whose defense gave up 206 yards in Virginia Tech’s 35-10 loss to No. 1 Alabama. “I left her a message, too, as you guys can imagine. (Cato) played a hell of a game. Give him credit from that standpoint.”

With that, Foster was ready to move on from the Marshall game and onto the task of preparing for a Georgia Tech offense Virginia Tech (3-1 overall, 0-0 ACC) has had success slowing down of late.

“They’re going to gain yards,” said Foster, who confirmed he’ll shift Kyle Fuller from starting cornerback to starting outside linebacker and go with freshmen Kendall Fuller and Brandon Facyson as his starting cornerbacks against Georgia Tech (3-0, 2-0). “That’s what they do. What we’ve been able to do the last couple years is not give up the explosive plays.”

In 2009, when Georgia Tech defeated Virginia Tech 28-23, the Yellow Jackets posted five plays of 20 or more yards. Four of those plays came in a second half that still haunts Foster.

After that game, Georgia Tech went on to win the ACC title and played 2 1/2 months later in the Orange Bowl against Iowa, which beat the Yellow Jackets 24-14. Georgia Tech entered the game averaging 306.2 rushing yards per game, but Iowa held it to 143.

Foster was interested. He traveled in the offseason to meet with Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz and his staff to talk about how to stop Georgia Tech’s option.

Since that meeting with the Iowa staff, Foster has tweaked the personnel in his traditional 4-2-5 defensive scheme in games against Georgia Tech to get more athletic players and better tacklers closer to the line of scrimmage.

In 2010, Kyle Fuller moved to outside linebacker for the Georgia Tech game. Kyle was a freshman that season. Virginia Tech gave up 346 rushing yards, which was the most rushing yards ever surrendered by a Foster-coordinator Hokies defense, and six plays of 20 or more yards, but Virginia Tech won 28-21.

Even more adjustments came in the ’11 game, and so did even more impressive results for Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech put Kyle Fuller at outside linebacker again, Cris Hill started at cornerback, J.R. Collins went from starting defensive end to defensive tackle, Jack Tyler started in place of Barquell Rivers at middle linebacker (it was Tyler’s first start since the previous season’s Orange Bowl) and Hampton High graduate Tyrel Wilson started at defensive end.

Virginia Tech won 37-26, with Georgia Tech running for 243 yards and posting four plays of 20 yards or more. Virginia Tech came out on top in time of possession – an all-important category when playing against Georgia Tech’s option – by nearly nine minutes.

Last season, with an entire offseason to prepare for the season-opener against Georgia Tech, Foster had Wilson and Corey Marshall start at the defensive end spots, Kyle Fuller opened the game at cornerback and Jeron Gouveia-Winslow was the starting outside linebacker.

Virginia Tech won 20-17 in overtime, limiting Georgia Tech to 192 yards rushing and just two plays of 20 yards or more. Georgia Tech came out ahead in time of possession by nearly 10 minutes, but only two of its 12 drives lasted more than seven plays, and seven drives lasted four plays or less.

While keeping Georgia Tech from accumulating massive rushing yards is almost unheard of, Foster said one of the keys is making sure the Yellow Jackets don’t have advantageous situations on second and third downs. Of course, the challenge this season is getting a defense ready to perform that way with virtually no time to do it.

“In a short week, it’s impossible,” Foster said. “It’s not so much your option principles. It’s getting your scout team, and getting them coming off the ball with the mindset that they’re going to be coming off with the speed and the tempo of the backs. All that surge that (Georgia Tech is) coming off with, that’s what’s hard to simulate. Before you know it, they’ve marched it down the field on you. You might’ve played great defense, and it’s second-and-5 or second-and-4. The last couple of years that we’ve played it’s been second-and-9, second-and-8. We’ve kept them behind their plan.”

Another key for Virginia Tech in the last few seasons has been its pre-scouting heading into the Georgia Tech game. This season, Virginia Tech took the two Sundays prior to the Marshall game to prep its scout team for Georgia Tech game week and introduce a few concepts pertaining to the Yellow Jackets. It’s the first time Foster has ever done that with his Sunday prep time.

Last year, Foster said Virginia Tech was prepared for a spread look Georgia Tech employed at times. Foster said he and his staff got word the Yellow Jackets were using the spread.

Though Foster said he and his staff simply dialed up a game plan for the spread by typing “spread offense” and “spread bone” into an internet search engine, there was doubtless more that went into it.

“We went on the internet and looked at high school film,” Foster said.

Heading into this week’s game, Foster said he has studied Georgia Tech’s use of a diamond formation in the backfield that it has run traps and power reads off of in its first three games. He suspects Georgia Tech can run triple option out of the formation now.

Then again, Foster referred to the current version of Georgia Tech’s offense as less triple option and more of what he called “double” option. He said quarterback Vad Lee is more likely to hold onto the ball or hand it off as opposed to pitching it these days, which has helped Georgia Tech cut down on turnovers. Georgia Tech is tied for fifth in the nation this season for fewest turnovers lost (two).

To get ready in such a short period of time, Virginia Tech has spent much less time in practice on technique and fundamental training. It has replaced that time with almost an hour in each practice of “team time," where the first team defense and offense works against the scout team. Virginia Tech will be in full pads Wednesday in Blacksburg before flying Wednesday night to Atlanta.

Other than Facyson, Kendall Fuller, linebacker Tariq Edwards (who didn’t play last season against Georgia Tech, but started in 2011 against the Yellow Jackets) and defensive tackle Luther Maddy (started last season against Georgia Tech, but didn’t play in the ’11 game against the Yellow Jackets), Virginia Tech has seven other defensive starters that played against Georgia Tech in the ’11 and ’12 seasons.

“Just with the short week, we’re trying to keep our continuity with what we’ve done with this scheme in the past,” Foster said.

“I’m hoping the experience factor also in a short week is going to help us, because it’s just hard to simulate this offense and get all the different looks that you want in three days.”

It’s not lost on Foster that his defense has carried the load for Virginia Tech early this season. He stressed the importance of winning time of possession again Thursday night, and jumping out to an early lead.

“Obviously, we have growing pains on (offense), but it’s not about them,” Foster said. “We’ve got to get (the defense) off the field and give them the ball. That’s what we’ve got to do. That’s kind of been our success against (Georgia Tech) the last couple years.

“We’ve got to be able to control the ball offensively a little bit. Obviously, it helps if you can put points on the board, too, because if you can get them behind that changes their mindset a little bit. If they’re ahead, they’re just going to keep coming off that ball and making it a clock game and just kind of wear you down that way. It’s kind of a chess match that way, but we’ve got to have some help, too, if we can create some turnovers or get the ball on the ground.

“I’ve got the utmost respect for Paul and what they do. They’re tough. They’re hard-nosed. He knows that offense, and he’s seen every wrinkle against it. He does a good job of countering. That’s where we’ve got to do a good job of seeing how they’re going to attack us and how we counter, and just not giving up any big plays.”

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